So Cool Being A Missionary!

So this week will go down in mission history as the week I drove the mission TRUCK!!!!!

Back story:  We get out of a lesson with some less active members, and we check our phone…6 missed calls from the assistants to the president…Shooot!  So we call them back.  “Sisters, we’re going to need you to drive a truck for a couple of days…is that ok? I was so stoked!  So we got to drive a MASSIVE  Chevy Silverado for a few days.  It was grand!

A cool story¨ One of our Pohnpeian recent converts, Rose, finally earned enough money to bring her 12 year old daughter to America@  That seems to be a trend among Pohnpeians…the parents will come to the US to work, leaving the kids with relatives, and they work and scrimp and save until they can save enough to bring their family over one by one.  I can only imagine what a heart-rending decision that would be…so hard.  But, Rose finally has Millie, and she’s so happy!  We’re going over there today to teach her the first lesson and we’re pretty excited. 

Want to know something cool?  We had so many people want us to come over and teach today, we had to schedule over part of our p-day.  I LOVE being this busy!  Best feeling ever!

We got to spend quite a bit of time with President and Sister Holm this week, which was super neat.  Hey finish their mission at the end of the month so they were introducing us to all the people in the neighborhood they would like us to go and teach.  They’re also throwing a party on the 3oth so President and Sister Turner (the new mission president) can meet the neighbors and we get to go and help.  I can’t wait!

2 cool miracles and then I’ve gotta go:

1.  Brother Allancar is from northern Brazil, and is a less-active member of our ward.  We’ve been by his home quite a few times, and he’s never home.  On Saturday all of our plans, our backups, everything fell through, so we were about to start knocking when the prompting come to go see Brother Allancar.  Hmmmm.  We go and…there he is…painting the railing to his front stairway.  We asked to help, and ended up having a way good conversation with him.

2.  We had biked about 12 miles and I was out of water.  Nobody was home, it was 100% humidity, and I was about ready to keel over and die (not really but kinda…) I said a quick prayer that Heavenly Father would help me make it through that bike ride.  The next door we knock on turns out to be a long lost less active member, and she just happens to have 2 bottles of cold orange soda.  I don’t even like orange soda, but I was just so stinkin’ grateful for an answered prayer, that I chugged it down and was ready to go.

It’s so cool being a missionary!

Y’all have a blessed day!

Love,

Sister Derrick

 

Plan of Salvation...Bryndee style!

Families, Fish Fries, & Fireflies; Oh My!

This week was good…lots of up’s and not-so-up’s, but that’s missionary life…the worst it’s ever been is WONDERFUL!

THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK: 

-Exchanges!  Sister Anderson from Sacramento, CA came and did exchanges with me.  It was kind of fun being on the other end of these and left me feeling so grateful for the time I have to spend as a regular missionary…don’t get me wrong, I loved being in leadership for so long, but it’s cool to be in my own little corner of the state, focusing solely on the work…Perfect!

-Ward Fish Fry!  I guess that’s a normal thing in the south…I’ve heard of tons of wards doing it.  Basically, they get a boatload of fish and the High Priests fry it all up and have a cook-out.  Needless to say I spent a lot of time at the sides table…hush-puppies & macaroni salad galore!  We had one of our Pohnpeiian families there and they had so much fun!  Marcolia, Me’lela, Dee and Synjunn had a ball playing corn-hole (another southern thing, so I hear…) and Marcarita (mom) got some great ward fellowship.  A good time was had by all!

-Fireflies!  First of the year!  Stoked on that!

-Families!  So, this week, Sister Call and I decided to specifically pray for a family to teach.  My whole mission it seems I’ve taught a lot of single people (which are great too…I’m not knocking it) but I’ve always wanted to baptize a family.  So, we’ve been praying for it and taking every opportunity to exercise faith.

So Sunday all of our plans had fallen through, and we were knocking, when the inspiration came to go visit a former investigator.  We follow the prompting, drive over to her house (side note:  her house is bright pink!)  and knock and knock again.  Shoot not home.  So we walked back to our car, and there are 2 little girls (maybe Ellie’s age) playing right outside our car.  We go talk to them and ask to talk to their parents.  Mom comes out…

-Me:  He we’re the local missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!  We’ve been coming around the neighborhood today, and sharing a message about Jesus Christ…”

She cuts me off.  “Well if it’s about Jesus Christ I could use it.  Wanna come in?”

WOAH!!!!

So we go in, sit down, and it turns out to be a cute little family of five, who moved here a year ago, and have been to about 4 different churches since they moved. They started asking questions about the youth program, our pastor, if we passed a plate around…etc.  The more we explained, the more excited they got.  We talked about the Book of Mormon, and their minds were blown!  They were so happy!  They set an appointment for us (which never happens…) and we left them having family scripture study in 3^rd Nephi 11.  Way cool!

Welp, to tie it all up, I wanted to write about a thought I had this week.  I’ve been thinking a lot about my expectations when I first came out on a mission.  Everyone pictures a mission as the best 2 years…or at least I did…

EXPECTATION:  Knocking doors.  Hanging out the members.  The worst thing that could happen was a slammed door.  Teaching families that kept commitments.  People always said it was hard, but it couldn’t really be that hard…now could it?

Then I got here…

REALITY:  There are things much harder than slammed doors.  People fall off date.  People struggle with addictions.  Families fall apart.  People get incredibly sick.  Missionaries, who you grow to love, struggle…some want to go home.  You deal with real people problems, things I only thought (based on my sheltered suburbia lifestyle)  existed in the movies and tabloids.  It’s been so different and so so much harder than I thought…but…the interesting thing is the things that make it so horribly difficult make it wonderful too.  The strength of people is AMAZING!  People keep commitments.  People conquer addictions.  People fight for what’s right and true.  Miracles happen!  It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever been witness too!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Ya’ll have a blessed week!

Love,

Sistah Dee (I’m thinking she has been in the South a little too long)

 

Bryndee and Sister Call on their new bikes!



Another Bryndee sketch...Helmet + Dress = Ridiculous!

Se La Vie...

Highish-Highs and Lowish-Lows

Kaselelia!  Or hello (for you Americans)!

So, let’s start my letter off this week with a miracle.  Sister Call and I were contacting in a neighborhood called Yacht Cove (if that gives you any kind of hint as to what kind of place it was…scary place to tract.)  When we start to walk up to a man walking his dog and talking on his cell phone.  He looks up, see us coming, and almost drops his phone, he looks so surprised to see us.  Following is a conversation between him and us.

HIM  “Wow I thought ya’ll were never coming.  You want to meet my wife?”

US  “Umm…sure.  Were you expecting us?”

HIM  “Oh well my daughter is on a mission in Florida.  My wife is dying of cancer, and I told her she could send the sisters by if she wanted to…but that was like a month ago, so I thought she’d forgotten.”

Turns out this man was very, very less active.  He had been offended by a bishop in Salt Lake, and had moved here years ago without anyone knowing.  Cool thing was the Lord knew exactly where he was, and sent the missionaries right when we were needed.  Isn’t it so cool being a missionary!!!

This week was…interesting.  Lots of highish-highs followed by lowish-lows.  But all is good.  It seems that almost all of our investigators abruptly dropped us, dropped the ball, or dropped off the face of the planet this week.  But all is well!  We’re finding new people to teach.  Working with the ward, and having a jolly good time!  I love being a missionary!

So not much to write about this week…quite a bit of knocking, street contacting, and sweating.  So, I’ll just share a thought from the scriptures and close up.  Ether 12:23 & 26 was one of Sister Gardner’s (now Walker) favorite scripture to share with people.  I came across it in my studies this morning, and was drawn to a phrase in verse 26:  “…my grace is sufficient for the meek…”  In these verses, Moroni is bemoaning his skills as a writer, criticizing the awkwardness of his hands, and wishing he could express himself as well as the brother of Jared does.  Eventually, the Lord cuts in and reminds him that as long as he’s meek (God-fearing, righteous, humble, teachable & patient…according to Elder Ulisses Soares last October) the Lord will qualify his work with the Savior’s grace.  It will be okay.  Elder Soares also says “upon acknowledging our dedication & perseverance, the Lord will give us that which we are not able to attain due to our imperfections and human weaknesses.”  This is the Lord’s work, and as long as we consistently do all we can to earn his trust, it’ll all work out.  I sure love the Lord for that!

Ya’ll have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Derrick

P.S.  Oh a quick note before I forget.  In my interview, President Holm asked about Porter…he then told me (ha-ha he didn’t give me permission, he commanded me) to call the week before he goes into the MTC.  I’ll have a new President by the, but President Holm said he’d let him know.  Just FYI!  I’ll only be able to talk to Porter, and it’s only for 40 minutes, but it should be pretty cool!  Love ya!

The Rolling Hills of Irmo!

Hello Family!

So, this letter’s gonna be rather brief, because it’s currently 5:22, and I have to be out the door soon.

So, I was transferred, and landed in good ol' Irmo, the home base of the South Carolina Columbia Mission. We share the ward with the assistants to the president, and the work here is rolling!!! I live in an apartment with 2 other sisters (sister Borglethaus and sister Shauerhammer (I think that’s how you spell them? hardest names ever...) and a senior sister named Sister Barlowe. so fun

Things I love about Irmo:

              Bikes! We bike everywhere! Way exhausting, but so fun!

Pompeian! We’re teaching a family from Micronesia, and baptized one of their little girls this weekend. So cute! This is the 5th language I’ve learned to teach on my mission so far.... English, Spanish, Portuguese, ASL, and now Pompeian..... Crazy huh?

The Members! The members here are stellar. So much untapped referral potential!

My Companion! My companion is sister Call, from Washington State. She has been out 3 months, and is super diligent and obedient. I love her so much :) She's a fantastic teacher, and we have lots of fun. She's got a sister on a mission in Florida somewhere, who entered the MTC the same day I did! Kind of fun.

I haven’t been here long, but the work’s rolling, and I am SO STINKING HAPPY!!!!

Y’all have a blessed day!

Love,

Sister Derrick

 

Saying goodbye to Sister Glauser. 

 

 

I guess Sister Glauser likes to sketch as much as Bryndee does.  These two are so much alike yet so different...I guess that's what makes great companions!

 

 

I always give Bryndee a hard time for her lack of info in her letters...she took a picture of Sister Glauser's letter to show that she isn't the only one with lack of info...silly girl!  

 

Bryndee and Sister Call with the family that speaks pompeian. 

 

Bryndee, Sister Belyea (Bryndee trained her), Sister Ramstedt (Sister Belyea trained her), and a sister that Sister Ramstedt is trainging...Bryndee is a great Grandma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go Of The Box Under The Bed!

Hello my family! So I’m sitting in a very empty room right now at a very empty table working where I’ll be writing from next week. I got a call from President and am going to be transferred on Wednesday to who-knows-where. So I’ve packed up all my stuff (pretty quick I might add…I seem to be getting pretty good at this…) and am sitting down to a few minute break and write y’all a quick note.

My Week:

Monday – grocery shopped. Emailed. Cleaned and cleaned for apt inspections. Ate Thai food. All in all a phenomenal P-day.

Tuesday – Exchanges with Sister Mchaley. We saw all of the recent converts, on one side our map, found a cool YSA lead (she’s responsible for the Charleston YSA Branch), and spent some time in Ridgeville (think…Mayberry. Super tiny super cute!) Exhausting day. We worked hard!

Wednesday – Finished up our exchanges with YSA, and then headed up to Walterboro branch for yet another exchange. Seriously the most fun I’ve ever had on an exchange. Sister Law (my temporary companion) was the greatest! So fun! I’m pretty sure we could be best friends.

Out in Walterboro, we had the opportunity to meet a woman named Dee. She let us right in (she said she’d talk to anyone with Christ’s name on their badge) and it turns out that she lived in AZ for a second (Yuma of all places) and was married to a Mormon they have since split ways, and all she had of his was an old blue copy of the Book of Mormon! For your old codgers that remember, it’s the one with the Angel Moroni on the front. Anyways, we taught her about the restoration, and she really felt the spirit. She accepted a baptismal date, and I’m way excited. Good exchange!

Thursday – Closed up exchanges for the transfer (that’s always an amazing feeling…like we accomplished something massive)

Friday – Put a man named Michael on date for baptism! Yahoo! His lesson started off pretty rocky. He kept going off on random questions and rants (why is Jesus white on your pamphlet? Where do you think God came from? Where can I get a Mormon wife?...that sort of thing) But we taught him a bit about how the Spirit can answer some of his questions as he listened to our message. We began to teach and the member we brought testified of her conversion, and the room got very quiet. The Spirit was there so strong and it was wonderful. Anyway’s he has a pretty soft date for May 31^st. Should be good.

Saturday – We did a MASSIVE service project for “Habitat for Humanity”! There was a fair that they put on almost entirely manned by missionaries. It was so fun, but so exhausting. WE got to teach a few pretty cool people including (but not limited to) Miss Freshman of Summerville High (and future Miss America, she’ll be the first to tell you), a funny old man from New Jersey, who’s son may be a Mormon, he can’t remember, and the woman at the booth next to us who sat the whole 9 hours we were there & read the Book of Mormon. Way cool day! Oh and transfer call from President…not so happy about this.

Sunday – We had an ASL translator come from Augusta for Kitt & Alison! Both loved it! It was cool to see them so happy. Also, one of the little Primary kids was watching the while they sang for Mother’s Day and started waving her arms around, trying to do the signs. So funny and so cute. Also got to talk to you guys! A Good Day!

I got these fun pictures in the mail...Cute girls!

Welp, a quick thought before I go: I was studying the Atonement this morning and had an interesting thought. In Leviticus Chapter 4, it talks about the process of sacrifice involved in being forgiven of your sins. A very valuable, very clean lamb must be given. Then, in Hebrews 9 it compares that sacrifice to the sacrifice of Heavenly Father, giving up his perfect lamb. Whether you’re looking at the Mosaic Sacrifice, or the Father’s Sacrifice both give up something of great value, and they give it up completely, withholding nothing. So, my thought is this: when I’m repenting what am I giving up? Or am I stilling holding on to things? Sister Holm gave a talk once on what she calls the box under the bed…the little things we withhold, that are “too much” to let go of. I testify that when we apply Christ’s Atonement, and ask for his help, with real intent, we can be free from those things that are hard to give up. We are changing, dynamic beings. We were created to grow, and to be more than we are…but it requires sacrifice on our part. My invitation to everyone is to simply pray, find the “box under your bed”, and covenant with Heavenly Father to give it up. You’ll be blessed if you do!

Love Y’all!

Have a blessed day!

Love,

Sister Derrick

A few weeks ago Bryndee, Sister Glauser and their roommates went and toured a Manor House on their P-day.  Such a cool old house.  I love the smiles and the beautiful pictures!

I Love Tough Things!

I saw a church this week, who’s name topped all church names you’ve ever herd up until this point:  Christ Deliverance Temple Church Incorporated.

This week was very interesting.  I only got to spend 3 days in my area, due to various meetings & such.  But it was cool to see the Lord’s hand in our work, directing us to where we were most needed.

On Tuesday we got word that our Chevy Cruiz had been recalled, so we took it to a dealership in North Charleston.  The service guy, Matt, took a quick look at it, told us he needed to order some parts, and gave us back the keys so we could go on our way.  We drive back to Summerville, and then called our vehicle coordinator, to update him on the status of the repairs.  He was nervous about us driving the car, so he sent us back to N. Chuck to request a rental car, which we did.  We caught Matt, asked for a rental, he fought us on it for a second, but then ended up getting us the car…so now I’m feeling very adult in my new Chevy Malibu (seriously the fanciest car I’ve ever driven…way horrible turning radius though…) and we have unlimited miles!  Seriously the best thing ever! 

Wednesday was MLC.  I love our Mission President, and am not looking forward to his leaving.  I’m sure the new guy will be great, but he’s got pretty big shoes to fill.  We got a call at the car place on Tuesday to train on “having a positive attitude”, and because of all the mania with the car, we didn’t get to plan it until the car ride there.  We got up to train, nervous but confident that we’d have Devine help.  (This is one of the things I’ve noticed change in myself…) giving trainings used to give me serious anxiety…I think that’s why I’ve had to do so many of them (I recently counted up how many I have given…over 50…crazy huh?).  Now I’ve learned to plan to teach, and then simply give those plans to the Lord & let him direct the training to where it needs to go.  It was seriously a powerful training, and the Spirit was strong.  I’m so grateful that the Lord gave me this weakness, and the opportunities to practice, and make it strong.

Thursday we invited a young man named Davion to be baptized.  Davion is 16 years old, very very shy, and it’s hard to get any response out of him.  We’ve been teaching him about the Savior; who he is and his purpose & ministry here on earth.  We talked about the Savior’s baptism, and how we walked 90 miles to where John the Baptist was, so he could be baptized by the proper authority…meanwhile, Davion was completely silent.  We would ask questions and get a simple not, or a thoughtful look, but other than that…nothing.  We took a leap of faith and invited him to be baptized the way Christ was.  He was quiet for a sec, and then agreed.  We were pretty surprised but we pulled out a paper calendar, circled the 24^th of May, and give it to him along with a green pen.  We invited him to write across the top of the paper why he wanted to be baptized, and sat there for a few minutes, wrote something, stared at it for a few minutes more, then held up the paper for us to see.  In big, wobbly letters it said across the top “It changes people”.  Whoa!  The spirit whoosed in at that moment and testified that he understood, and that his Heavenly Father was so proud.  Good day!

Friday was ZTM.  Not much to report except it was a good meeting.

Saturday we drove to the outskirts of our area and saw less active members that don’t get much contact because they’re so far.  Good day

Sunday was church.  I love church!  Towards the beginning of my mission I didn’t like it much, because it stressed me out.  People would go into deep doctrine in their Sunday talks, our investigators wouldn’t be fellowshipped like I would have liked, etc.  But now, I just enjoy the peace of the spirit that is there.

To close, a quick thought about faith and work.  President Holm told us a story about President Monson as a mission president in Canada.  He received a telegram from some of his missionaries that read “President the temperature here is 40 degrees below zero.  Please advise.”  President Monson quickly replied “Elders.  My advice is this…Dress warm.  Work hard.   And don’t look at the thermometer.  Warm regards, President.”

I love that!  If we have faith, knowing this is the Lord’s workk and he won’t let us fail, and work really really hard, we can do tough things.  President Monson knew the Lord would consecrate their efforts for their gain.  I don’t know about you, but I want to be like President Monson.  I’d rather wear out than rust out.  I love though things!

Y’all have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Derrick

 

Bryndee with the Brimley Family

 

 

Good morning girls!  Sister Glauser and Bryndee first thing in the morning in their very clean kitchen...this mom is impressed!

How Do You Feel About Those You Love?

Hello Family! Hope you’re enjoying the sun down there, ‘cause it’s been a week since I’ve seen it…you’ve got one very soggy, very tired, very happy missionary down here!

My week kicked off (as it usually does) with exchanges. Sister Dent from Utah (as they usually are) came to work my area with me. One of my favorite lessons we taught together was with a woman named DeeDee. She was a woman Sister Lamb and I had found a few months ago, but when we found her, she was having a hard time keeping commitments. We stopped in on her, showed her the gospel library app and simply bore testimony of the Book of Mormon. It’s amazing the power of the stories in that book. I’ve grown to love the stories of Nephi, Enos, Helaman, Mormon, and Alma. These people went through trials that amaze me, and wrote down their feelings so thousands of years later; I can know that Jesus Christ is the One I can look to for a remission of my sins. I read their stories and think “hey I’ve felt that before, too.” And then these people became real. There’s no other book like it (and I’ve read a lot). Anyways…DeeDee committed to read 3 Nephi 11 and is coming to our weekly Book of Mormon class on Wednesday. We’re pretty excited.

My next exchange was with Sister Boyson in North Charleston. That exchange was probably the most miraculous of my mission. Sister Boyson had planned the exchange so that we had a solid appointment every hour of the day…but as the day went on, every single appointment (except 1) fell through. Oh well such is life. Cool thing was, wherever we went, we found someone that was majorly prepared for the gospel. We ended up teaching one lesson with a member present, nine other lessons and picked up four new investigators! N. Chuck (North Charleston) is going to have some major success here pretty soon! It was an amazing, uplifting exchange.

The next day was a specialized conference with the zone. We were asked to give a training on planning by the spirit. Because of all the exchanges, I hadn’t seen my companion all week, so we were super nervous to teach. Luckily, as we shared from the scriptures & role-played with the zone, the spirit took over and it turned out to be a pretty decent training, If I do say so myself. Also, as a random side-note, I beat my whole zone in a basketball shooting contest. There should be a picture somewhere on Facebook of me & the Elder that won the 3 pointer contest (Elder Goesch…that kid is HUGE!) with President & Sister Holm. I’ll have to save it to prove to posterity that I can actually shoot a basketball.

Easter was this week! Christ the Lord is risen again! Hallelujah! Our Sacrament Meeting was all centered around stories of Jesus Christ and it was completely wonderful! Anytime we talk about the Savior the spirit can’t help but testify of the truthfulness of it. I know that He lives, & he loves us. I feel like I’m starting to come to know him on my mission, because I’m doing my best to do what he needs me to do, instead of what I would like to be doing. When I give myself up like that, he gives me something eternally better…himself. Oh, how I love him for that!

We got to eat with some of my favorite members and shared a really cool message with the Brimley family. All-in-all, a beautiful Easter Sabbath!

 

An Easter treat from a very kind member.  The members in Summervill are wonderful!  They really know how to take care of their missionaries!

One last parting shot. This morning I was studying for yet another training I’m giving tomorrow (they never end!) and I was reading Nephi’s account of his father’s dream (1 Nephi 8) verse 4 caught my attention. “but behold, Laman & Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you…" this struck me as odd. I have this distant memory of a Sunday School class, where the teacher quoted President Hinckley as saying sometimes he was nervous & antsy, but with the Lord, he was never afraid. So, what would it take to make a Prophet of God afraid? Take a look at verses 17 & 18. The mere thought of someone that he loved, missing that fruit. Baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the blessings of the Temple that was enough to make the Prophet scared. My question is, do we feel the same way about those we love? Elder Ballard challenged all of you to invite! Now, are you?

Well, I love you, and I hope you’re sharing this wonderful gospel like crazy!

Y’all have a blessed day!

Love,

Sister Derrick

P.S. If anyone sends me mail, we’ve been asked to tell people not to write “sister” or the mission name they’ve been having some problems with missionary mail being tampered with, so they’re trying to stop that from happening. Just put “Bryndee Derrick” please.

Love ya!

 

She was surprised to get her Eater Package.  I guess it came on a particularly hard day.  Needless to say she was thrilled to get it.

Just a cute picture of my favorite missionary and her companion.  These two really are great girls!

 



 

Probably my favorite picture of Bryndee on her mission.  She just looks happy!